1986: To Make a Prairie

Panel: Clovers, Bees, and Reveries

Date

Mar 18th, 1986

Participants

Ellen Gilchrist

Maxine Kumin

Rebecca Hill

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

90:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V242, V243

This audiovisual recording from March 18, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writing Conference: “To Make a Prairie” features Ellen Gilchrist, Maxine Kumin, and Rebecca Hill forming the panel “Clovers, Bees, and Reveries.” The panelists discuss the benefits and burdens of writers' conferences on writers, the transfer of life into art, growing up as readers, balancing their writing with raising children, feminist writing in the United States, moving between fiction and poetry, writing characters, advice to aspiring writers, balancing isolation and awareness, taking risks and finding motivation when starting out as writers, writing habits, working under deadlines, and compromise.

Reading: Ellen Gilchrist

Date

Mar 18th, 1986

Participants

Ellen Gilchrist

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V244

In this audiovisual recording from March 18, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” Ellen Gilchrist reads “Traceleen, She's Still Talking” from Victory Over Japan.

Panel: Prairies

Date

Mar 19th, 1986

Participants

Ellen Gilchrist

Maxine Kumin

Rebecca Hill

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V245

This audiovisual recording from March 19, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writing Conference: “To Make a Prairie” features Ellen Gilchrist, Maxine Kumin, and Rebecca Hill forming the panel “Prairies.” The panelists discuss the rewriting, finding voice, sharing work with peers, handling criticism, repurposing material, sentimentality, learning from important works, sensibility, and facing difficulty through writing. They also respond to audience questions about specific pieces of their work.

Reading: Rebecca Hill

Date

Mar 19th, 1986

Participants

Rebecca Hill

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V246

In this audiovisual recording from March 19, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” Rebecca Hill reads from the seventh chapter of Blue Rise and excerpts from the newly-published Among Birches.

Reading: Maxine Kumin

Date

Mar 19th, 1986

Participants

Maxine Kumin

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

90:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V247, V248

In this audiovisual recording from March 19, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” Maxine Kumin reads a selection of poems. Kumin reads “Fräulein Reads Instructive Rhymes,” “Casablanca,” “Morning Swim,” “Watering Trough,” “Woodchucks,” “The Hermit Meets the Skunk,” “Amanda Dreams She Has Died and Gone to the Elysian Fields,” “In the Root Cellar,” “A Mortal Day of No Surprises,” “July Against Hunger,” “Splitting Wood at Six Above,” “Birthday Poem,” “The Envelope,” “My Father's Neckties,” “The Longing to be Saved,” “Feeding Time,” “You Are in Bear Country,” “Atlantic City, 1939,” “Grandchild,” “Video Cuisine,” “Getting Through,” “After the Harvest” [Note: the reading of this poem is interrupted], and “The Long Approach.”

Panel: Real Toads

Date

Mar 20th, 1986

Participants

Jay McInerney

John Yount

Robert Ward

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

90:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V249, V250

This audiovisual recording from March 20, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writing Conference: “To Make a Prairie” features Jay McInerney, John Yount, and Robert Ward forming the panel “Real Toads.” The panelists discuss autobiography in fiction, writing from experience, outlining versus freewriting, the importance for a writer to detach him or herself from autobiography, pursuit of original voice and the educational value of imitation, negative criticism, working with editors and publishers, sentimentality, and emotional connection to characters.

Reading: Jay McInerney

Date

Mar 20th, 1986

Participants

Jay McInerney

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V251

In this audiovisual recording from March 20, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” Jay McInerney reads excerpts from Ransom and Bright Lights, Big City.

Reading: John Yount

Date

Mar 20th, 1986

Participants

John Yount

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V252

In this audiovisual recording from March 20, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” John Yount reads the opening of The Trapper's Last Shot and excerpts from Toots in Solitude.

Panel: Imaginary Gardens

Date

Mar 21st, 1986

Participants

Jay McInerney

John Yount

Robert Ward

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

90:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V253, V254

This audiovisual recording from March 21, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writing Conference: “To Make a Prairie” features Jay McInerney, John Yount, and Robert Ward forming the panel “Imaginary Gardens.” The panelists discuss audience, ideal audience, high concept writing, discipline, their motivation, writing women characters, empathy, the influence of children and family on their writing, and literary influence.

Reading: Robert Ward

Date

Mar 21st, 1986

Participants

Robert Ward

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V255

In this audiovisual recording from March 21, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” Robert Ward reads an excerpt from Red Baker.

Reading: Raymond Carver

Date

Mar 21st, 1986

Participants

Raymond Carver

Digitization Status

permissions pending, digitization planned

Run time

60:00

Archival Format

U-Matic/VHS

Call Number

V256

In this audiovisual recording from March 21, 1986 as part of the 17th annual UND Writers Conference: “To Make a Prairie,” Raymond Carver reads two short stories. Carver reads “Careful” from the collection Cathedral and the recently written “Whoever Was Using This Bed,” later published in Elephant.